Lock structure for automobile doors



May 21, 1940. E. D. DALL LOCK STRUCTURE FOR AUTOMOBILE DOORS Filed Sept. 5, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [aw/4,420 :8. BALL May 21, 1940. E. D. DALL LOCK STRUCTUBE FOR AUTOMOBILE DOORS Filed Sept. 5. 1936 v 2' Sheets-Sheet 2 EYEEYQF- Iowmeo Q .04.

Patented May 21, 1940 PATENT orgies LOCK STRUCTURE FOR AUTOMOBILE Edward D. Ball, Waukegan, Ill., assignor to Walter F. Wright, Cleveland, Ohio Application September 5, 1936, Serial No. 99,5441

6 Claims.

'My invention relates to locking structure for controlling the locking of automotive vehicle doors and may be readily incorporated in locking controlling systems such as disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 655,180, filed Feb- .ruary 4, 1933, Patent No. 2,109,997, dated Decemher 21, 1937, or in my copending application Serial No. 716,306, filed March 19, 1934, Patent No. 2,135,967, dated November 8, 1938.

The invention may also be considered as an vehicle, but in these systems unlocking or a doorby manipulation of the inner handle mechanism is possible even though the door has been locked against opening thereof from the outside. It may however, be very desirable that, when the doors have all been locked against opening from the outside, the doors will also be locked against opening by manipulation of the inside handle mechanism particularly when it is desired to prevent occupants as for example children from opening any of these doors from the inside and the important object of this present invention is therefore to provide structure and arrangement which will prevent such opening of the doors from the inside.

A further important object is to provide an arrangement so that by the omission or addition or a simple structural part a door may be held locked against opening by its inner handle mechanism after looking thereof by the master lock or may be opened by manipulation of the inside handle mechanism.

The various features of my invention are shown incorporated .in the structure disclosed on the drawings in which drawings:

Figure l is the outer side elevation of a master lock and the inside handle mechanism associate therewith;

Figure 2 is an outside elevation of a remote lock for cooperation with and control by the master lock of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse section of a stile between adjacent doors showing the transmission means for transmitting control movement of the master lock to remote locks;

Figure 4 is a section on plane IVIV Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the roll-back actuating cam member in the lock of Figure 1: and

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the roll-back member of the lock of Figure 1;

Figure '7 is a plan view of a slide link forming part of the lock structure.

The lock structure to which I have shown my invention applied is substantially that disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 66,149, filed February 28, 1936. The master lock structure shown on Figure 1 comprises a supporting plate I having the outer flange 2 thereon provided with the opening 3 for passage of the beveled latch bolt head 4 secured to the plate 5 slidable on the supporting plate 5 and guided by a post 6 extending from the supporting plate through the longitudinal slot 1 in the latch plate. A spring 8 engages against the inner end of the latch bolt head and tends to hold the latch structure in its outer latching position. The latch plate at its inner end is widened and has rearwardly projecting guide flanges 9 and I0 engaging the supporting plate I.

Below the latch bolt structure and adjacent to the flange 2, a cover plate l l is spaced a distance 25 from but secured to the supporting plate, the roll-back member 15 and the roll-back actuating cam member ll being aligned in this space, the cam member having the rectangular axial passage l8 for receiving the rectangular shank l9 extending from the outer door handle (ndt shown), while the roll-back member has a cylindrical passage 2 I through which the handle shank extends, the cam member having a tooth 22 for cooperation withan abutment lug 23 extending from the roll-back member.

Slidable and swingable on the supporting wall 5 below the latch bolt structure is a retractor barhaving a pin 25 at its outer end extending through a guide slot 26 in the wall l parallel with the movement of the latch bolt structure. An

arm 21 extends upwardly from the roll-back memher in alignment with the outer end of the retractor bar so thatwhen the roll-back member is rotated in clockwise direction the retractor bar will be shifted longitudinally, and when the retractor bar is in normal position its inner end will be in front of the lower flange ill of the latch bolt plate 5 so that the bar may communicate the rotation of the roll-back member to the plate 5 for retraction of the latch bolt structure. The roll-back member is rotated in clockwise direction when the handle shank is rotated in the same direction as the tooth 22 on the cam member I! then engages with the lug 23 on the roll-back member.

Inwardly of the roll-back member and cam member, a pin 28 is journalled in'the wall I and cover plate II and is secured to a cam lever 29 and a cam arm 30, the cam lever being in the plane of the cam member I! and the cam arm being in the plane of the retractor bar 24 so that, when the cam member i1 is turned in counterclockwise direction by rotation of the handle shank l9, the cam tooth 22 will engage the cam edge 29' of the cam lever for clockwise rotation of the cam lever and the pin 28, and engagement of the cam arm 30 with the underside of the retractor bar 24 for upward swing of the bar about its pivot pin 25 to carry the end of the bar above the end of the latch bolt flange [0 so as to free the retractor bar from the latch bolt structure and to prevent retraction of the latch bolt structure when the retractor bar is shifted inwardly by clockwise turning of the roll-back member. A spring 3| mounted on the supporting wall I engages with its end against a push rod 3| which rod at its lower end abuts the shoulder 32 on. the retractor bar and tends to hold this bar down in its normal position against the stop projection 33 on the plate l. Below the cam lever 29 is a locking lever 34 pivoted at its upper end on a post 35 extending from the supporting wall I, the lower end of the locking lever being in the path of a cam 36 carried by a shank or bar 31 which is journalled in the extension 38 depending from the wall I. The shank or bar 371 extends to the outside of the door on which the lock structure is applied and the turning of the shank is preferably controlled by a suitable key lock, preferably of the cylinder and tumbler type. The locking lever 34 has a stop shoulder 39 for cooperating with the shoulder 40 on the lower end of the cam lever 29. On Figure 1, the lock structure is shown in unlocked condition, the shank 31 having been turned to engage the cam 35 with the locking lever 34 so as to withdraw the shoulder 39 from the. path of the cam lever. When it is desired to lock the latch bolt structure against retraction by the retractor bar 24, the key is first turned to cause the cam 36 to be swung away from the lower end of the lock lever 34 so that the lever may be swung upwardly by a spring 4| to bring its shoulder 39 into the path of the cam lever. The shank I9 is then turned by the outer handle a short distance in counterclockwise direction for engagement of the cam member I! with the cam lever 29 for clockwise rotation of the cam lever and upward swing of the retractor bar to its locking position, that is, to a position which frees it from the latch bolt structure. As the cam lever is turned, its lower end glides past the lever 34 so that the lever may be swung upwardly by the spring 4| for setting of its shoulder 39 in the path of the shoulder 40 to thereby lock the cam lever in set position.

The latch bolt structure cannot now be retracted from theexterior of the door on which the lock structure is applied as clockwise turning of the shank I9 by its handle will result only in longitudinal inward shift of the retractor bar past the abutment flange l0 without retraction of the latch bolt. To unlock the structure to permit retraction of the latch bolt by the outer handle, the key is turned to engage the cam 36 with the locking lever for downward swing of the lever and withdrawal thereof from the cam lever 29, the spring 3| then returning the retractor bar to normal or unlocking position, the downward swing oi the retractor bar, by its engagement with the cam arm "causing the cam lever 28 to be swung back to its normal position. Now upon turning of the outer handle in clockwise direction, the roll-back member l5 will shift the retractor bar inwardly against the abutment flange l0 and the latch bolt structure will be retracted.

Besides controlling the retraction of the latch bolt in the master lock (Figure 1) the cam lever 29- functions also to control the retraction of the latch bolt in remote locks, that is, locks on the other doors of the vehicle, as for example, the lock shown in Figure 2. Between the wall I and the locking lever 34, a plate 42 is slldable and carries at its'outer end a pin 43 which projects through a pamage 44 of the flange 2. The hair pin spring 4| which is coiled about the post 35 engages at its front end with the locking lever 34 and tends to swing it upwardly and as its rear end engages the abutment 45 formed on the plate 42, this spring wnding to normally hold the plate 42 shifted inwardly with the outer edge of the guide slot 45 of the plate abutting the post 35. When the outer handle of the vehicle lock is turned in counterclockwise direction to swing the cam lever 29 for releasing the retractor bar 24 from the latch bolt structure, the lever 29 at its lower end also abuts against the inner end of the pin 43 and the pin and the plate-42 are shifted outwardly. As will be explained more in detail later, such outward shift of the pin 43, acting through transmission mechanism provided in the stiles or posts between adjacent doors, will cause inward movement of pins in the remote locks for swing of retractor bars in such remote locks away from the latch bolt structure therein so that at such remote locks the latch bolt structure cannot be retracted by turning of the outer handle.

When the key controlled cam 36 of the master lock is turned for release of the locking lever 34, the cam lever 23 is locked by the locking lever in set position to hold the plate 42 and pin 43 in outer position, and when the cam 36 is reset to swing down and release the locking lever from the cam lever the spring 4| will shift the plate 42 inwardly to cause retraction of the pin 43 and thereby release the locking means in the remote locks so that these locks can again be opened from the exterior.

For controlling the latch bolt operation from the inside of the dooron which the lock structure is applied, a supporting plate 41 is secured to the door inwardly of the latch bolt supporting structure and another plate 48 is spaced from and secured to the plate 41. These plates Journal the shank 49 of an inner door handle 50 and the shank, between the plates, carries an arm 5| connected with one end of a bar 52. Instead of connecting the other end of the bar 52 directly with the latch bolt as, for example, in the arrangement shown in my copending application Serial No. 66,149, filed February 28, 1936, I connect this end of the bar with a link in the form of a plate 53 slidable between the latch bolt plate 5 and the supporting plate I and having the longitudinal slot 1 receiving the guide post 5. The slide plate 53 engages against the rear face of the latch bolt plate 5 and has upper and lower guide flanges 54 and 55 engaging with the supporting plate I to leave space between the plate 53 and the supporting plate I for the retractor bar 24 when it is longitudinally shifted while in its upward swung position. The shape and contour of the side plate 53 is clearly shown I on Figures 1 and 7.

The spacer flange 55 of the plate engages the inner side of the lower spacer flange III on the latch bolt plate 5. 'The rear end of the slide plate beyond the rear end of the supporting plate i has a longitudinally extending slot 56 receiving the pin 51 at the adjacent end of the bar 52 extending from the inner handle mechanism. The outer end of the slide plate extends in front of the retractor bar 24 and has a longitudinally extending slot 56 which receives the pin 25 which pivots the retractor bar so that, when the inside handle 5B is swung downwardly to exert pull on the bar 52, the slide plate 53 will be shifted rearwardly for rearward shift of the retractor bar, and if during such shift the retractor bar is in unlocking position it will engage the flange it of the latch bolt plate 5 and the latch bolt structure will be retracted. But,

if during rearward shift of the plate 53 the retractor bar is in upward swung or looking position, the bar will merely glide past the flange it and the latch bolt will not, be retracted so that the latch bolt is locked against retraction by the inside handle and the door cannot be opened. from the inside.

When the inner handle at is swung a distance in counterclockwise direction, the latch bolt structure will be locked against retraction by the outer door handle and at the same time the pin 33 will be shifted outwardly for locking of the remote lock latch bolts against retraction by their outer handles. This is accomplished by means of a slide plate be guided for longitudinal inward and outward movement on the wall i by pins 59 engaging in slots 59'. The slide plate at its rear end has the upward extension 58' in the path of the head 57' on the pin 51 so that when the bar 52 is pushed by the counterclockwise rotation of the inner handle the head 5'! will abut the extension 58' and the slide plate 58 will be shifted forwardly to carry its end 60 into position below a-finger 2'! on the roll-back it so that the roll-back member cannot be turned by the outer handle but will be dogged and therefore the latch bolt cannot beretracted. Also during forward movement of the slide plate 58 a shoulder 6i thereon engages with the inner end of the plate 62 and this plate will be shifted outwardly for outward projection of the pin 43 and consequent locking of the latch bolts of the remote locks against retraction by the outer handles. 1

Ordinarily when the inside handle mechanism is operated for locking .in'the master lock, the cam 36 will be in position for holding the looking levert i down so that the cam lever 29 will be in its normal position. Thenwhen the dog- 7 ging plate. 58 is shifted inwardly by operation of the inside handle the upper edge thereof will come into position below the stop lug 62 on the cam lever 29 thus locking the cam member ill and the outside handle against counterclockwise movement, and as the roll-back member 15 is dogged against movement by the dogging plate 58 the outside handle will be rigidly held against any rotational movement. Should attempts be made to look by operation of the inside handle when the master lock has already been set to locking position by counterclockwise rotation of the outer handle and clockwise rotation of the cam lever 29, then the abutment 62 .on the cam lever will be in front of the outer end of the dogging plate 58 and the inside handle cannot be actuated.

As has already been explained hereinbefore, when the master lock is in locked condition, during which time the retractor bar 26 is swung upwardly clear of the latch bolt structure, the latch bolt cannot be retracted by operation of the inside handle 56, as the pull on the bar 62 upon downward swing of the inner handle will shift rearwardly the plate 53 and the retractor bar 24 pivoted thereto and as the retractor bar is in its raised position inward shift thereof will not affect the latch bolt and the bolt remains latched, so that the door cannot be opened from the inside.

0n Figure 2 is shown lock structure slightly modified for service on remote vehicle doors, that is, the doors other than the door on which the master look is applied. The structural parts in the lock of Figure 2 which are the-same as the structural parts of Figure l, have been given the v same reference numerals. In the structure of' the remote lock, the cam element ii of the masthe latch bolt, such movement resulting from the inward shift of. thepin 63, such inward shift being, as has already been explained, caused by the outward movement of the pin 33 in the master look by way of transmission mechanism within the posts or stiles between adjacent doors, aswill be presently more explained in detail.

In place of the cam lever 29 in the master lock shown in Figure l, a lever it is provided in the remote lock and supported by a pin l I. At its inner end this lever has the abutment extension l2 for engaging with the under edge of the retractor bar 2fl-so that when the lever is swung in counterclockwise direction the retractor bar will be swung upwardly to raise its inner end above the abutment flange iii of the latch bolt structure. At its lower end, the lever has a notch '73 inwardly of which the lower edge of the lever forms an inclined or cam surface it, and outwardly of which notch the lever has the abutment finger Locking of the latch bolt structure E5, the notch normally receiving the abutment extension 16 deflected from the plate 42 from which the finger or pin 33 extends.

Figure 2 shows the parts in unlocked position, the pin 43' being heldin projected position by the force of a hairpin spring ll coiled about the post 35 with one end anchored around the edge of the wall l and theother end engaging the abutment projection on the plate 42. In such normal position the abutment E6 on the plate 62 is within the notch it. and against the finger E5 on the lever 10 to hold this lever released from the retractor bar 26 which seats against its rest 33, so that when the door handle is turned in clockwise direction the retractor bar will engage with the latch bolt structure for retraction thereof. However, should the pin 43' be shifted inwardly, the abutment 16 on the plate 42 will engage with the cam edge 14 of the lever 10 and the lever will be swung upwardly for engagement of its abutment I! with the retractor bar to swing the retractor bar to locking position,

lease of the retractor bar, which bar is then swung down to its normal position by the force of the spring 3| so that the latch bolt may now be withdrawn by rotation of the door handle. Upon release of the door handle, the spring ti will shift the bar outwardly to its normal position andthe spring 8 will shift the latch bolt structure back to its latching position.

The inside handle mechanism for the remote lock shown in Figure 2 and its connection with the lock mechanism may be the same as that for the master lock shown in Figure 1, the slide plate 53 being connected at its rear end with the bar 52 of the inside handle mechanism, and the slide plate at its front end receiving the pivot pin 25 for the retractorbar 24. When the lock is in its unlocked condition as shown in Figure 2, operation of the insidehandle will shift the slide plate 53 rearwardly and with it the retractor bar 2 5! and as the bar is in its lower or unlocked position it will engage the lower flange it! on the latch bolt plate 5 so that the latch bolt will be withdrawn.

If the pin 63 has been shifted inwardly for swinging of the lever ill and upward swinging of the retractor bar 20. to locking position, then rearward shift of the slide plate 53 by the inside handle would not affect the latch bolt and the door would remain latched.

The transmission of the movement of the pin 43 of the master lock to the pin 553 of the lock of the door adjacent to the master lock door is shown on Figure 3. At the sides of the post or stile I8 between the adjacent doors, levers i9 and 19' are pivoted at their outer ends by pins 80 for horizontal swing, a transmission bar 8| slidable on the rear wall of the stile being interposed between the ends of the levers. The lever 19 is in alignment with the pin 43 of the master lock structure and the lever 19' is in alignment with the pin 43' of the remote look so that when the pin 43 is shifted outwardly and the master lock is locked, the pin 43' will be shifted inwardly for locking of the respective latch bolt against unlatching movement by the outer handle.

The movement of the transmission lever 19 controlled by the master lock pin 43.may be communicated to a suitable lever .85 pivoted at 86 to the stile 18 and the movement of the lever transmitted by a cable 81 to transmission means between the adjacent doors on the opposite side of the vehicle so that all the remote door locks may be controlled by operation of the master lock in a manner such as is clearly disclosed in my copending applications referred to herein.

The provision for preventing opening of the vehicle doors by operation of the inside handle is very desirable. For example, suppose that the driver of the vehicle wants to prevent occupants such as children from opening the doors from the inside. With the structure disclosed, the driver will operate the inside handle on the front right door to lock the master lock, and the projection of the pin 43 from the master look also effects locking of the latch bolts at the other or remote doors, such locking with the structure shown involving the swinging of the retractor bars free of the latch bolt structures. Although the inner door handles on the remote doors may be swung, the doors cannot be unlatched and the occupants cannot get out of the vehicle through the remote doors. Should the driver desire to leave the car and keep the occupants locked therein, he will first turn the key at the master lock to release the lock lever 34 and will then turn the outer handle of the master look a short distance in counterclockwise direction for upward swinging of the master lock retractor bar and outward shift of the pin 43 for upward swinging of the retractor bars in the remote locks and then when the lock plate 34 looks the pin 43 in projected position all the locks on the vehicle are held in locked position and none of the doors can be opened from the inside by operation of the inner handle.

I provide a simple expedient and means for adapting any one or all of the locks for retraction of the latch bolt by operation of the inside handle when the latch bolt is locked against retraction by the outside-door handle. The means shown comprises a screw H10, best shown in Figure 4, this screw threading into the latch bolt plate 5 from the rear thereof and having its head l0! engaging in an opening E82 through the slide plate 53, so that when the inner handle is operated for pull on the bar 52, the latch bolt is directly retracted and the retractor bar 2 1 also shifts inwardly with the link 53 and whether the retractor bar is in locking or unlocking position is not material as the bar and latch bolt are moved together. In order that the latch bolt may readily retract inwardly, as when an open door is slammed shut, the opening 32 is elongated so that the latch bolt may shift inwardly without moving the slide link 53. When the rollback of a lock is swung by the outer handle for retraction of the latch bolt by the retractor bar, the slide link 53 does not move with the retractor bar on account of the elongated slot 56' which receives the pin 25 on the retractor bar, and the link 53 does not move with the latch bolt on account of the elongated slot 56 so that the inside handle mechanism is not disturbed.

In locking installations where it is desired that the doors may be opened at any time by operation of the inside handle means, the screws I00 will be applied, but when such inside opening of the doors is not desired, the screws are omitted from the locks. In automobiles it may be desirable to have only the rear doors locked against unlatching by the inside handle means and in such case the screws will be omitted from the locks on the rear doors.

I have shown a practical and efllcient embodiment of my invention but I do not desire to be limited to exact construction, arrangement and operation shown and described as changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim as follows:

1. In a vehicle body having a door, a lock structure for holding the door closed, an outside handle on the door cooperable with the lock structure for opening of the door, an inside handle on the door also cooperable with the lock structure for opening of the door, and means controlled from a point on the vehicle remote from said door for setting said lockv structure to prevent opening of the door by said outside handle and for pre-' venting opening of the door by operation of the inside handle while said outside handle is ineffective to open said door.

2. In a vehicle body having a door, a lock structure for the door comprising a bolt for holding the door closed, a retractor member normally positioned for movement into engagement with said bolt for retraction thereof, an outside handie and a roll-back efiective upon forward movement of said handle for moving said retractor member for retraction ofsaid bolt, an inside hane dle and a connection therefrom to said retractor member independently of said roll-back for movement of said retractor member to retract said bolt, and means for setting said retractor memher out of bolt engaging position whereby to prevent retraction of said bolt by operation of either of said handles. i

3. A locking mechanism for a door comprising a bolt for holding the door closed, an outside handle and an inside handle on said door, a link normally positioned for movement into engagement with said bolt for withdrawal thereof, an actuator element movable with said outside handle into engagement with said link for movement thereof for withdrawal of the bolt, a connection from said inside handle directly to said link independently of said actuating element for effecting movement of said link for withdrawal of said bolt, and means for displacing said link whereby both handles will be ineffective to cause withdrawal of said bolt.

4. A locking mechanism for a door comprising a bolt for holding the door closed, an outside handle and an inside handle on said door, a

single link normally positioned to transmit 0p eration of' either handle to said bolt for withdrawal thereof, and displacing means for displacing said link whereby both handles will be rendered ineffective to withdraw said bolt, said displacing means including a train of mechanically associated movable parts extending to a point remote from said door and there provided extending to a point in said vehicle remote from said door and there provided with an actuator.

6. In a vehicle body having a door, a locking mechanism comprising a locking member for holding the door closed, an outside handle and an inside handle on the door, a single control member normally set relative to said locking member to enable either handle to independently efiect unlocking of said locking member, and setting means consisting of a train of mechanically associated movable parts extending to and controlled from'a point on said vehicle remote from said door for setting said control member to ren der, both handles unable to unlock said locking member.

1 EDWARD D. DALL. 

